Viva!

I'm so excited. Next Tuesday through Saturday I'll be in Las Vegas!!! Tuesday through Thursday will be work days with fun nights, and Friday-Saturday are all for me me me me me (and Mr. H, fave coworker, and fave ex-coworker).

We'll be here.

Staying here.

Seeing this.

And this.

While drinking this.

I hope I'll have some great stories to share when I return. Hopefully none will include this.

This.

Or this.

Hopefully I'll take plenty of good photos for your viewing pleasure. The blog may go silent for a few days, but hey - you're used to that!

Lazy

Why can't I narrate posts and have them magically appear on this blog?

Yes, I've been thinking about this a lot lately. I think in the car. I think in the shower. Neither place allows me to jot down my thoughts or my super witty blog post. By the time I get to work, fire up my computer, check my email, and, well, work (since that's what they're paying me to do!), I've lost my flow, I run out of time, I get stressed out, I'm distracted, and my creativity goes out the window...

Obviously what I need is a water-proof, traffic-safe voice recorder that immediately transcribes my morning and afternoon musings and publishes them to the blog. I'm sure there's an app for that, but I refuse to pay for an iPhone or any other smart phone in general.

THAT is why I've been a lazy blogger as of late. Or at least that's the story I'm sticking to.

What daily routine do you keep up with to ensure your day's thoughts and activities are captured in the blogosphere?

1-21-06

If you haven't been following this blog since my 2nd post, you are now required to go back and read it. This will also explain the oddball title I chose for my blog.

Ok. Glad you're back.4 years ago today I was in the midst of one of the best weekend's of my life.

It all started so innocently. Classes ended on Thursday at 11:30 a.m., my study abroad friends and I picked up our three rental cars, packed our bags and headed out for an adventure in Rotorua, New Zealand. The drive was beautiful and we managed to stay on the left side of the road.

We arrived at Cactus Jack's Backpackers and settled into the "new" room containing 4 sets of bunk beds. Apparently this room was new because months earlier a wayward backpacker didn't remove the lid from a can of beans before cooking it on a hot plate. Essentially the room exploded and now hot plates aren't allowed in rooms.

The next morning, we woke up and headed to what is essentially a sheep themed park. Now is the time I'm obligated to reveal my favorite kiwi fact: Sheep outnumber people in New Zealand 17 - 1. Yep. 17 sheep for every 1 person.

The clear highlight of this park is zorbing. Zorbing, invented in Rotorua, is a "sport" defined by crawling into an inflatable hamster ball with 2 of your closest friends and a couple gallons of water and rolling down a hill. It is disorienting. It is amazing.

Then we headed over to Kaituna Falls for a white water rafting adventure. Nothing like sailing down a two story fall (highest navigable waterfall in the world!) for your first white water experience. It was terrifying. It was amazing.

Then it was back to Cactus Jack's and off to the Grumpy Mole for dancing. I still maintain that the Grumpy Mole is the best name ever for a bar. I dare you to disagree. Then it was off to bed for an early wake-up call.

Saturday we went to Waitomo for some world-famous glow worm caving. We entered the cave by repelling down a waterfall. We trudged through freezing cavey muck, but thankfully had waterproof boots and wetsuits to protect us.

Now the point of this post isn't to brag about my international adventure or to compare the rafting and caving excursions to White Water and Fantastic Caverns of my childhood.

So now on to the good stuff.

Somehow Saturday night found Mr. H and me alone in a bar after everyone else had turned in for the night. Yes folks, you guessed it. This weekend was all build up to the day Mr. H and I politely had a conversation about "liking each other as more than friends." Scratch that. Let's try this again. This was the day that upon leaving the bar I decided he should hold my hand. So I grabbed his. Hey, that went well so I decided he should kiss me. So I kissed him.

And that my friends marks our anniversary. The rest is history.

Happy 4th Anniversary!

Study Abroad Friends at our Wedding

Table names inspired by our study abroad trip

Freezing

The cold has stolen my creativity, so I'll quote KXAN.

In a story about protecting yourself in the cold (peeling skin, exposure, etc - hard hitting news people!) a woman admitted to liking the cold... er, not minding it... only after saying that there is no reason to be out in the cold in the 4 minutes it takes to pump your gas.

Closing line of the story in dramatic local news anchor voice: Turns out she's a transplanted Yankee.

Thank you local news. Thank you.

Entertaining like Grown-Ups*

*because saying "entertaining like adults" just sounded dirty...

Way back in November of 2009, two dear friends got engaged. I didn't tell you about it because a) you don't know these people and thus wouldn't care that they got engaged and b) it happened during my bad blogger phase.

So anywho, said friends live in another state and came back to town for the veryfirsttime as an engaged couple and a friend and I decided to throw them an engagement party. Well, she decided and I helped. She's the maid of honor; she's supposed to be thoughtful. It also wasn't exactly and engagement party so much as a gathering to celebrate their engagement because engagement parties come with lots of rules that involve inviting parents, etiquette, and formal toasts.

The menu:

• German Cooked Cheese (like queso, only German)
• Cranberry-Jalapeno Salsa over Cream Cheese
• Shredded Barbeque Chicken Sandwiches
• Swedish Meatballs
• Spinach Salad with Walnuts, Feta, Craisens, and Ginger Dressing
• Creamed Corn (from Rudy's)
• Lime Green Beans
• Chocolate Covered Pretzels and Homemade Tagalongs
• Winter Sangria

All items homemade unless noted that it was from Rudy's. I'm so freakin' proud of our handy work. Friends arrived nearly on time and in dressy attire as the evite noted (again, another reason why this was a celebration, not an engagement party). I'm thrilled we got to take some wedding gifts on their maiden voyage, including a really odd glass platter dubbed the liquor luge (clearly, not the gift giver's intent so we used it for crackers).

All that adultness and the party still went until 3 a.m.... so maybe we're not quite grown-ups after all.

My Wish for 2010

More love, less anger.
More endorphins, less laziness.
More solving, less dwelling.
More support, less bitterness.
More phone calls, less Facebook.
More reading, less TV.
More giving, less receiving.
More laughter, less crying.
More organizing, less pack ratting.

I think the average new year's resolution lasts about 3 weeks. Ok, I just made that up. But the point is, new year's resolutions are lofty goals that are rarely accomplished. So now I give you "The Things I'd Like to Do in 2010 (but won't beat myself up when I break them by January 21)":

• Tone up. I focused on yoga and cardio in 2009. Both helped me shed some extra weight, but now I really want to work on toning, especially my arms. Perhaps I will bust out the 30 day Shred again. 
• Turn off the TV. Mr. H and I often find ourselves wasting several hours watching TV instead of spending real, quality time with one another. Now I love my programs, but do I really need to watch MTV's The Duel just because it's on?
• Simplify. This will be the hardest for me. I hope to get rid of 100 things this winter. Clothes that are worn out or don't fit any more, trinkets I easily forget I have, printer cartridges to printers I don't own anymore... you get the point.

What are your hopes for 2010?

Riding into 2010

WLP